Article August 8, 1988 Issue

Starting anew

Honesty, humility, childlikeness. They make fresh beginnings possible.

Beatrice Contay

Several years ago I took a watercolor course at a summer session for adults. The second day our class was sketching houses down in the village. As I perched on my stool and wielded my paintbrush, some small children gathered round, observing us all with great interest. One little girl about eight years old was watching me intently. I said to her, "How am I doing?" She scrutinized my work and said most seriously, "Why don't you just tear that sheet off and start over again?"

Comments like that can really shatter one's ego! But what great potential there is for fresh, new progress! We never have to remain in ruts of familiarity or be bound by past mistakes. We do need to be humble, receptive, and teachable—willing to claim opportunities to change our ways if necessary. "Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea," writes Mrs. Eddy in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health. "Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,—this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony."^{Science and Health, pp. 323–324.} So we are not stuck with limitations. We can always turn over a new leaf.

In Christian Science, "turning over a new leaf" means much more than changing what we do. It involves lifting our thought and expectation by knowing that God meets our every need because He is Love itself. As God's, Spirit's, sons and daughters, we rightfully inherit all good, including true substance, intelligence, and obedience to the Father's will. When we claim this heritage and really listen for God's voice, we are able to put into practice whatever wise and useful leadings come to us, and our human needs are met.

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